Part 20 (1/2)

Hail, Innocence! whose bosom, all serene, Feels not fierce Pa.s.sion's raving tempest roll!

Oh, ne'er may Care distract that placid mien!

Oh, ne'er may Doubt's dark shades o'erwhelm thy soul!

5

Vain wis.h.!.+ for, lo! in gay attire conceal'd, Yonder she comes, the heart-inflaming fiend!

(Will no kind power the helpless stripling s.h.i.+eld?) Swift to her destined prey see Pa.s.sion bend!

6

O smile accursed, to hide the worst designs!

Now with blithe eye she woo's him to be blest, While round her arm unseen a serpent twines-- And, lo! she hurls it hissing at his breast.

7

And, instant, lo! his dizzy eyeball swims Ghastly, and reddening darts a threatful glare; Pain with strong grasp distorts his writhing limbs, And Fear's cold hand erects his bristling hair!

8 Is this, O life, is this thy boasted prime?

And does thy spring no happier prospect yield?

Why gilds the vernal sun thy gaudy clime, When nipping mildews waste the flowery field?

9

How Memory pains! Let some gay theme beguile The musing mind, and soothe to soft delight.

Ye images of woe, no more recoil; Be life's past scenes wrapt in oblivious night.

10

Now when fierce Winter, arm'd with wasteful power, Heaves the wild deep that thunders from afar, How sweet to sit in this sequester'd bower, To hear, and but to hear, the mingling war!

11

Ambition here displays no gilded toy That tempts on desperate wing the soul to rise, Nor Pleasure's flower-embroider'd paths decoy, Nor Anguish lurks in Grandeur's gay disguise.

12

Oft has Contentment cheer'd this lone abode With the mild languish of her smiling eye; Here Health has oft in blus.h.i.+ng beauty glow'd, While loose-robed Quiet stood enamour'd by.

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